The death of Michael Jackson at the hands of his physician Conrad Murray exposes a
little-known but potentially highly dangerous fact: any licensed physician can prescribe
any patient almost any medicine.

• After criminal charges were filed against Murray in relation to Jackson’s death,
the Texas Medical Board entered into an “agreed order of restriction” in which Murray
agreed to “be restricted from using or administering any anesthetic agent that is
normally administered by an anesthesiologist, including but not limited to propofol
or any other heavy sedative medications,” but they were careful to say that the order
does not prohibit him from prescribing pain medication or anti-anxiety medication.

• Even though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves drugs only for specific
uses with specific patient populations, there is no legal barrier to doctors prescribing
the drug “off-label” once it is on the market.

• According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there has been at least a 10-fold
increase in the medical use of opioid painkillers during the last 15 years because
of a movement toward more aggressive management of pain.

• Once the drugs reach patients, the results can be disastrous. According to the CDC,
“Drug overdose deaths were second only to motor vehicle crash deaths among leading
causes of unintentional injury death in 2006 in the United States.”

Quotes

• “Michael Jackson’s death came as a direct result of a doctor who had no training
in anesthesiology administering a highly dangerous and potent drug never intended
to be used outside of an operating room.”

• “Dr. Murray’s actions in prescribing an operating room drug are extreme, but deaths
from more commonly prescribed narcotics are increasingly common. The laws intended
to monitor prescription of dangerous drugs are there to prevent these drugs being
sold on the open market, not to protect the patient.”

“Dr. Murray's use of propofol as a home administered sleep-aid is an example of the
harm that can come from unlimited prescription powers.”